Rockin' Rollins roars to 64, pulls within a shot

Leader Camilo Villegas tees off on the third round of the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines on the South Course Saturday morning. (John R. McCutchen/Union-Tribune)
— John R. McCutchen / John R. McCutchen/Union-Tribune

Leader Camilo Villegas tees off on the third round of the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines on the South Course Saturday morning. (John R. McCutchen/Union-Tribune)
— John R. McCutchen / John R. McCutchen/Union-Tribune

BIRDIE

You don't have to be a rabid golf fan to like the final threesome Saturday of Camilo Villegas, John Rollins and Charley Hoffman. There's Spider-Man for the female fans, Rockin' Rollins for the golf purists and, with Trevor Time unplugged, this town's new Hoffy for the locals.

BOGEY

San Diego golf fans, c'mon. This tour stop has been hit with the triple whammy of no Tiger, rain and a deteriorating economy. But if there's ever a time to support it, it's now. With no rain in the forecast Sunday, there will be some great golf played at the local muni.

– ED ZIERALSKI

To see John Rollins' record in the Buick Invitational is to know the guy can be awfully streaky.

Since the redesigned Torrey Pines South Course debuted in 2002, Rollins has missed the cut three times, while also posting a couple of top-8 finishes.

He stumbled to an 82 here in the fourth round last year. So, you had to know what was coming Friday in the second round of this year's Buick. Something spectacular.

In cold, windy, rainy conditions better meant for hunkering down and savoring pars, as leader Camilo Villegas did, Rollins provided a little bluster of his own. He shot 5-under on his back nine and threatened to tie the South Course record before settling for an 8-under-par 64 that put him only one stroke off the lead.

“It doesn't happen real often you can say, 'I got out of the South Course with an 8-under,' but today everything kind of worked out well for me,” Rollins said.

Villegas struggled with his driver all day, hitting only four fairways, but he scrambled to a 70 on the South and was the sole leader at 11-under 133 through 36 holes.

Rollins was in second, followed by Poway High alum Charley Hoffman, who shot 6-under 66 on the North Course to get to 7-under and give himself his best chance to win the tournament he first played as a 17-year-old amateur.

Rollins, who won the last of his two titles in the 2006 B.C. Open, started Friday's round 70 minutes behind Villegas, so he could see on the leaderboard the Colombian was not faltering after opening the tournament with a 63 on the North.

“I just was basically trying to get myself in position to be in one of the last couple of groups (today),” Rollins said. “It just happened that things started going in, and I started making birdies and holing out a 9-iron, and – bang – here we are.”

On his first hole, the South's 10th, he rolled in a 60-foot birdie. Rollins closed his front with a 33, and then made four birdies and an eagle on the next eight holes. At the par-4 fifth, he lofted a 9-iron from 124 yards and it bounced into the cup for eagle.

At 9-under for his round going into his final hole, Rollins was on pace to tie the course record of 63 set by Greg Chalmers in the final round in 2002, the first year in the tournament for the redesigned South Course.

But on the 606-yard, par-5 ninth, Rollins missed the fairway, could only punch out, and then found the right greenside bunker with his 6-iron third shot. He produced a nice sand blast to 5 feet, but misjudged the quickness of the green, ran his ball by the hole and ended with a bogey.

Somebody told Rollins that Tiger Woods owned the South Course record, but that was on the “old” South, where Woods notched a third-round 62 in 1999.

“I would hate to take anything away from Tiger,” Rollins joked, rolling his eyes, “so I figured I'd better make bogey, not birdie.”

Rollins, who lives in Colleyville, Texas, has been a solid performer, with his two victories, while holding his tour card for the past seven seasons. But after finishing a career-best 24th on the money list in 2007, he suffered a big dropoff last year, to 103rd in money.

The difference, he believes, was the 40 pounds he shed last offseason while on a Weight Watchers diet. He has since gained a few pounds back and is comfortable at 198.

“I had just different motions and different misses that I was unaccustomed to,” Rollins said of last season. “We unfortunately had to accept what was happening and just say it was a transition year.

“It's still nice to know you made a million dollars not really playing well.”

As easy as Rollins' day appeared Friday, it was a struggle for Villegas. He got into a troublesome swing motion that had him pushing the ball to the right, and he fought himself the entire round.

“A little bad thought in your head here and there, and you just don't release the clubhead,” Villegas said. “I'll just go to the range and I'll just free it up, and I'm sure it'll be fine.”

Villegas' strength gave him the ability to slash out of the heavy rough, and, impressively, he made only one bogey to go with his three birdies.

“I think I accomplished my goal,” he said. “I looked at my caddie walking down the 10th fairway, it was just pouring, and I told him, 'Listen, let's find a way to keep it around par and maybe somehow we get in red numbers.'”

Padraig Harrington, the three-time major winner who played in the group with Villegas, was impressed with what he saw over the first two days.

“I do think he's playing and doing everything right,” said Harrington, who shot 74 Friday and made the cut, tied for 50th. “It depends on his confidence, and he's obviously spot on right now. If he does what he did the first two days he's going to win the tournament, plain and simple. But it's not inevitable. He's got a bit of work to do.”